Complain about a product or service

Richmond American

Jeremy of Dacono CO (08/29/08)
We purchased a brand new Richmond American Home in Oct. 2006. We first noticed damage in Dec. 2006 and contacted our warranty representative with Richmond. Since Dec. 2006, our home has continued to fall apart around us. In the mean time, Richmond has strung us along with minimum help. They have sent out structural engineers which have done elevation surveys, soil engineers which have taken months of soil tests.

Many of the windows in the home do not open; they have had to reset the front door twice just so we can use it. The stair rail has completely come off the wall and is no longer safe for my family. Richmond has sent out contractors three times to patch the rail with nails and glue. Both of which have not worked as the dowels are continuing to pull apart from the rail itself. There is not a door or window in the home without massive cracks, some of which are over a 1/4 in wide. We can see the frame work behind them. In the last few months, we have been awoken 4-5 nights a week by very, very loud booms in the walls and floors. So loud that my 3 year old and 5 year old sons are waking up crying scared of the loud noises, asking me if our house is going to fall down on their rooms. All of this information has been given to Richmond and they insist that they need to find out what is causing the house to shift before they worry about fixing anything. They have had 19 months since our first contact to them that there were problems with the home.

They just contacted me on July 7, 2008 and said that they want to do a few more months of soil testing, that all the other testing was not conclusive enough. 19 months and they still have no idea why the house is falling apart. I have asked that they purchase the home back from me for what I paid for it, the money I have put into the home and moving and closing cost for a new property. They have refused, stating that it take time for them to figure out what the problem with the current property is.

19 months my family has been dealing with this nightmare. Any other product you buy in this country that is a defect, you get your money back, much less the most important purchase of your life. My wife and I worked very hard for many years to prepare to purchase our first home and within three months of moving in the house began falling apart. Every contractor, repair man, neighbor, friend that has seen our house has said that they have never seen a home with as many problems as ours.

I have given Richmond 19 months to correct the problem or to come to an agreement on the property, and they have nothing. The law in Colorado states that I have 2 years to file suit from the first time I contacted Richmond. They have almost pushed it that far. This whole ordeal has been a nightmare for my family and Richmond could care less that my family is suffering and that they sold me a lemon home. That to me is unacceptable and is why I am filling this complaint.

The home is worth $0.00.

Veemac of Scottsdale AZ (07/18/08)
My company was hired by richmond american homes to build several new home constuctions, we built appox. 150 new homes for richmond homes. We recieved progress payments as we went along, until every thing STOPPED! we were told to stop working and DO NOT frame another home. We did, and were told final payment would be soon coming, 19 months later, and many courts procedings later, Veemac is still waiting for $1.3 Million Dollars final payment. I have all of my pre liens in place, and richmond american has bonded arounded the liens. 18 other sub contractors have filed for bankrupcy since this began. Veemac has NOT. HELP, PLEASE.

My company has paid all of there suppliers, and all of it's labor force, and has stopped working.I have had 1 heart attack, 3 bleeding ulcers(BLEEDING) and have spent many months in the hospital, and still have not recieved 1 dollar. every month like clock work i recieve something new from the courts, asking for more time, and paper work. I no longer have legal representation, because i can't afford any thing or a new lawyer at the moment. I still have an open civil case open with the courts. i've sued for $1.3 million and 10 million for damages.

Jeff of Em UT (07/16/08)
They came to fix the AC several times. They cant get it to work properly so I get ignored. I'm thinking litigation or just take it and buy a new system. I'm a disabled vet so money is tight but what can you do.

AC does not work. I'll be buying one shortly I guess, somehow or just continue to wear wet clothes around the house, kinda like my unit did in Iraq. God bless america.

Daryl of Ashburn VA (05/08/08)
I bought my home in Ashburn, Virginia in the Ashbrook community in May of 2005. I recently had a problem with my home that was not discovered during the warrenty period. My guest bathroom which my wife and I use very infrequently leaked through the ceiling below it into the dinning room. I had a plumber come to my home and repair the damage. When the plumber removed the toilet he informed me that the leak was because the toilet was installed improperly. The toilet was completely missing a seal that was supposed to be there (the wax seal) and another cone shaped seal was put in upside down causing water to run around the seal and not into the drainage pipe.

I contacted Richmond American Homes customer service and was told I needed to speak with David Dovian who is the head of customer service. I left several messages for him to no avail. I finally got in contact with the president of Richmond American Homes and he had Mr. Dovian call me that same day. Mr Dovian asked if I could fax him the invoice after the work was completed so he could review it and speak with the contractor. I faxed Mr. Dovian the invoice after the work was completed liked he had asked. I got no call back after it was faxed. I had to call him back the next day since I received no phone call from him. Mr. Dovian then informed me that my warranty period was up (this I already knew) and they would not pay for the repair. He did not call the contractor like he told me he would. He had absolutely no concern that the toilet was installed improperly and stated that since I did not catch their mistake during the period that Richmond American Homes is not responsible for the damage they caused.

I then called the president of Richmond American to see what his stance was on the issue. He informed me that had I given them a chance to do the repair they would of taken care of it. I then told him that I did give them plenty of time to come out to my home and review the damage and faulty installation. It took 5 days to finally get a call back. Then there was 3 days after talking to Mr. Dovian before the work was done. How long does Richmond American Homes think I should have sewege leaking in my home.

The president of Richmond American Homes had no comment about that and stated that they would do nothing about their faulty workmanship. Anyone who is considering buying from Richmond American Homes should think of buying from a different builder as I would never buy a home from them again. Not to mention all the problems I had when I first moved I would list them all, but it would become a novel.

The repair cost was $500.

Richard of Castle Rock CO (11/29/07)
Below is a letter that I sent to numerous people at Richmond that explains the situation.

My wife and I recently closed on a Richmond Home on July 31, 2007. I would like to start by saying thanks for the great job that was done on our home. My wife and I have been treated with the utmost respect and high quality of service. We have been pleased with the majority of the contents of our home. Unfortunately, we have been experiencing some extreme problems with our floor. The first problem was actually documented on the walk-through prior to closing back in July.

Since then, the floor has continued to wear at an abnormal rate. When we selected the floor at the Richmond Design Center, we asked that we only be shown floor samples that can withstand dog traffic. We reiterated to the design consultant that we have a puppy and we want to make sure the floor will hold up. We were reassured time and time again that this floor was a great product that they have had a lot of success with in homes that have dogs. Seeing as how this is our first home and we have no reason not to believe the design consultant, we followed her advice.

My wife and I are not flooring professionals. Neither was the design consultant. However, the design consultant does act as an advisor to those who dont have experience in this industry. As our records show, the total cost of our floor was $8,293.00. That is a lot of money to pay for a floor that only has a life of 3 months.

We are not disputing what caused the damage to the floor. It is very clear to anyone that sees the floor what caused the scratches. When the representative from Guys flooring saw the floor he was surprised we were sold that product, especially since we made it very clear that we had a dog. He also stated, had he been asked what product to recommend while having a dog, he would have recommended a sealed tile. While we are not flooring professionals, we are not ignorant. Had we been told in the beginning that a pre-finished hardwood floor is not recommended for use in a home with a dog, we would have chosen a different product. According to the flooring professional? the price of tile and the price of pre-finished hardwood are comparable. Just like any homeowner we want the value of our home to appreciate in value. This floor will do nothing but decrease that value.

I live by my word of honor every day. I sell a service to people that have no knowledge about what I am selling. It is up to me to educate my clients as to what to expect out of that service. If I make a promise to a client, in writing or verbal, I am expected to live up to that promise. If I dont, my reputation will be jeopardized and they will take their business elsewhere. What I am asking is that Richmond American Homes honor the promise that was given by a representative of your company and provide my wife and me with a product that provides the durability that we asked for.

Anne of Murrieta CA (11/14/07)
Six years ago, the A/C and heater were not installed properly. As a result condensation from the A/C unit is leaking into walls and ceiling. The A/C coil is rusted due to the primary drain being disconnected by the installer. Gas to heater has been recently upon inspection disconnected due to fire hazard.

The cost of a new a/c unit is $1200 plus the repair cost of the heating unit. I have damage to walls, etc that insurance should pay minus my $1000 deductible.

Elaine of San Jose CA (10/03/07)
The following is a letter sent to Mr. Shipley, vp of sales, regarding our grievance with Richmond American Homes. To date we have received no reply nor acknowlegment of our complaint.

In December 2006, we commissioned Richmond American Homes to build the Picasso model on lot 16 of Signature @ Surprise Farms. As an out of state buyer intending to relocate to Arizona, we were relying on estimates and updates to inform of us when the house would be completed. During our initial meeting with Michelle Williams, she informed us the house would take 10-12 months to complete. Ms. Williams reiterated the 10-12 month completion time when we completed the sales agreement via fax and telephone. With construction beginning in January 2007, this would place our move-in date between November and December 2007. We later received updates weekly from Kerry Sacher, informing us of the construction status of the home (foundation, drywall etc.) At no time, however, did Mr. Sacher indicate that the completion date for our home had changed.

As neither my husband nor I am educated in the construction business, Mr. Sacher status updates did not translate into real time completion for either of us. Additionally, when we asked Mr. Sacher when he projected the home would be completed, he replied, it is too far out to tell.? We therefore had no reason to expect the completion date to occur prior to the original estimated time of 10- 12 months.

On May 11, 2007, when we again asked Mr. Sacher for an estimated date of completion, we were shocked when he returned with a completion date of June 27, 2007. This placed our completion time 4-6 months ahead of schedule. As stated earlier, neither Ms. Williams, nor Mr. Sacher, had informed us that our home would be built in half the time originally quoted.

The following Monday, we expressed our concerns with Ms. Williams who in turn replied that we are contractually obligated? to take possession of the home once it is completed. She further stated that we were never given a 10-12 month time frame; she said we were told it would be 8-10 months. This is not true. Furthermore, even if the completion was only? 2-4 months early as Ms. Williams stated, we were never given any hint that this was likely to occur. Ms. Williams further stated that we were receiving weekly time-frame updates from Mr. Sacher, which again is not true.

We relied on Ms. Williamss representation to our detriment. As an out of state buyer, we depended on our Richmond Homes representative and contractor to provide us with real time estimates. As current homeowners, we placed our home on the market in what we thought was well in advance (May 2007), which of course is not reasonable for a relocation date of June 27. Neither my husband nor myself had secured employment yet in Arizona, as we had planned to begin at least 2 months prior to moving. As a registered nurse, I also needed to obtain an Arizona license in order to practice, a process which often takes 6 months. Although I had already begun this process, I had been working it around our expected fall relocation date.

The termination agreement we signed 6/6/2007 was in response to our belief that we had no other choice. As presented by Ms. Williams, our options were to walk away from the dream-home we made many sacrifices to buy, or move out of state with two small children and take responsibility for an addition mortgage without having secured employment. We did not terminate the agreement because we no longer wanted the home or because we simply changed our minds?. In fact, we asked if Ms. Williams if there was a way to extend the time we had to take possession of our house after it was finished. Since the house was finished months ahead of the estimates we were given, we thought the company might be flexible; we were told there was zero flexibility concerning this matter.

If we had simply been better informed of an early completion date, or even told that an earlier completion date was a strong possibility, we would have had the opportunity to make arrangements accordingly. While we are aware that the original contract states the property can be completed anytime within a year, we were relying on our Richmond American Homes representative to assist us by giving us real time estimates, especially when it was well known that we were relocating from California.

After seeking legal counsel, we respectfully request that Richmond American Homes refund us for the damages your companys misinformation has caused us. Specifically, we request that Richmond American Homes refund us our deposit money, which totals $12,000. Of this amount $2,000 was for the initial deposit and $10,000 for the second deposit. We are also seeking $895.12, the amount spent on airfare, car rental, and housing during our necessary trip to Phoenix in order to customize our home. This incidental cost is reflected in the enclosed Expedia.com itinerary.

Jeni of Peyton CO (09/20/07)
Not honoring home owners 1 yr. warranty without military blacklist threats. Items needing repair are ignored or shotty work is done. My backyard is washing out, taking the fence they installed with it. They attempted to repair it twice. Once, just filling in more dirt that washed away as well, second attempt, they bilt a small fence around the hole. I've had cieling leaks, windows installed backwards that leaked, snow in my basement, no security system that was a paid upgrade, the company is out of business, a new entry way floor was to be installed. It was ripped out and we never saw the contractor again, having to put a floor in ourselves. ETC.

Repairs, if they are done, take months. We've stepped on nails left sticking out of the floor that wasn't finnished, our dog had to be put down after falling into the sink hole in the back yard, we can't use our half acre yard, the dogs deficate in the garage and have accidents in the house, reuining the family room carpet that now needs to be replaced. We've only had the house for 9 months. The flies from the garage look like amityville horror. The smell is nausiating. The stress is getting to my family and our quality of life. Wecan't have company over because of the smell and flies. We are embarrassed.

Michael of Saratoga Springs UT (02/22/07)
I have wood exposed on the outside of my home. The winter weather has caused damage to the outside of my home. I notified Richmond American about this problem in Sept. 2006. I was assured it would be fixed in a matter of days. We also have electricity problems in our kitchen. We have gone a month now without a working oven. We had electricty problems upon moving in that were addressed, however, now I cannot get a hold of anyone. I am concerned for the saftey of my small children and family. Electricity issues seem to be a concern with our home. In the pastI have sent in 4 on-line requests, called over 20 times, and paged our representative over 20 time. I have left multiple messages for supervisors and cannot get a single return phone call.

The outside of our home has water damage. We have not had a working oven for a month.

Danica of Phoenix AZ (02/21/07)
I purchased my new house in May of 2003 from Richmond American. To my surprise, the cabinets started to come off the wall in November 2006. When I called the builder to ask why they are falling off the wall they advised that it was due to the weight of the dishes. THE WEIGHT OF THE DISHES!!!???? As a childless couple with one set of good dishes (6pc) and a set of plastic daily dishes, we were shocked and disgusted at the response that we received from Richmond American.

It's my understanding that cabinets are meant to hold dishes, right? Then why would they say that the cabinets are falling because of the dishes? My cabinets were by no means overloaded, or even loaded for that matter. In fact I would consider them UNDER-LOADED.

To top it off, when they sent their technician over, he also looked at another problem in the house, a faulty water heater (big surprise). He, in all his knowledge and expertise left our water heater valve open, and we didn't realize it. The HOT WATER was leaking for the next 12 hours while we were at work, ran up our electric bill, water bill, and flooded the street. I won't even mention that he showed up 45 minutes late for our appointment, then claimed to not have touched our water heater, and accused my husband of having opened the valve, which he didn't, because he was told to go into the house to turn on the shower.

Our warranty contacts at Richmond American were extremely apologetic (at first), and agreed to fix the cabinets and windows, (not the water heater), through a third party at THEIR expense. We tried to contact them to arrange repairs in December, January and February, and received either no response, or responses like I dont know who you are or what you're talking about, please resubmit this claim with the main office.

I resubmitted the claim, and they contacted me today to let me know that they are not making any repairs, and have no recollection of making any promises to fix anything at their expense. That the only thing they could do is recommend someone to come out and look at them, at my expense of course.

I find this totally unacceptable for so many reasons. The main one being that if I buy a new house, I shouldn't expect the cabinets to: A) stay on the wall beyond 1 year B) hold dishes C) trust that the builder would adhere to an agreement to do the right thing and make the repairs at their expense

I have now been living with my dishes stacked on my counter for four months now.

Nissar of Pinehurst TX (10/18/06)
I purchased a new home and the bricks on the home have efflorescence. Within the one year warranty I constantly asked for the brick to be treated and sealed. They decided to clean the bricks. The first time, it did not work. The second time, most of the efflorescence came out. I asked for the brick to be sealed and they said no. I told them that two manufacturer (Aldon chemical and Sure Klean Vana Trol) of the treatment product suggest sealing the bricks. Their answer was these companies are just trying to sell me their product. I asked, if the efflorescence comes back 3 years from now, will they clean the bricks. They said no, I'll be out of warranty. Some of the efflorescence already came back on the front porch. This is one or 2 major issues.

Christina of Manassas Park VA (04/03/00)
We just moved into a brand new custom built home. We have lived there for about a month now with several major problems. Upon moving in: the upstairs heat did not work, the downstairs air conditioning did not work, the jacuzzi tub did not work, the hot water in the MBth did not work, and finally we have had EXTENSIVE plumbing problems resulting in water damage. There are many more issues which have not yet been addressed (I have a list of over 70 items). I am considering legal action. Would like advisement.

I have repeatedly had to miss time from work to arrange for plumbers, heating and air conditioning repairmen, et al. Not to mention cleaning up floods three times in the last two weeks. These systems should have been checked out thoroughly before we went to settlement.

I am at this point an emotional wreck. I can not even get excited about the fact that I just purchased my first home since it has done nothing but disappoint me. My neighbors on each side moved in around the same time and are at least equally unhappy with Richmond American. They got our money, but now are not being responsive to the repair requests that were made prior to settlement.

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